Lance Armstrong wins Howard County triathlon

Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun

Lance Armstrong won the Revolution 3 Half-Full Triathlon at Centennial Park in Howard County on Sunday, finishing the 70-mile race in just under 4 hours, 11 minutes.

The effort by the famous cyclist and embattled seven-time Tour de France winner in the combined swimming, biking and running event, organized by the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults to raise money for cancer awareness, brought him in more than 18 minutes ahead of the second place finisher, Louis Therien of Quebec.

Sharon Schmidt-Mongrain of Lafayette Hill, Pa., was the top female finisher in just under 4 hours, 54 minutes.

In the shorter, 40-mile triathlon, Eric Limkemann won in 2:18:02. The fastest woman, Nicole Kelleher, finished in 2:31:31.

Hundreds raced. Ten other cancer survivors joined Armstrong in competing in the 70-mile race's survivors division.

Armstrong, who survived testicular cancer, said in a post-race interview with event organizers that the .9-mile swim was "uneventful," that the 56-mile bike course was "absolutely gorgeous," and that he "felt good" during the 13.1-mile run.

"I would love to duke it out with the best of the best on that bike course," he said of the Ellicott City course.

His daughters Grace and Isabelle joined him at the line as he waved to crowds of cheering fans.

Armstrong also said Doug Ulman, a three-time cancer survivor who is president of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and in 1997 founded the Ulman fund, has been an "integral" part of his life in recent years and has helped make the Livestrong brand the "half a billion dollar organization" it is today.

To allow Armstrong to race Sunday, Ulman and other organizers of the three-year-old event had to surrender its official sanctioning.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced in August that Armstrong had been banned for life from all sports governed by federations that are signatories to the World Anti-Doping Code. It also ordered that he be stripped of his Tour de France titles, but international cycling have yet to act.

Armstrong had denied that he had ever cheated but gave up his fight against the USADA.